Obaseki knocks EDSOPADEC for shoddy project execution

The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has expressed dissatisfaction with the poor execution of projects by the Edo State Oil and Gas Producing Areas Development Commission.

Obaseki, who lamented that the projects carried out by the commission in last six years were not properly handled, ordered a clean-up of the agency.

He spoke when he received an engineering audit of EDSOPADEC’s projects from 2011 to 2017 by the Development Engineering Konsult Limited.

A representative of the audit firm, Mr. Sylvester Osara, had told the governor that 46 out of the 117 projects executed by the commission in the Ikpoba-Okha, Orhionmwon and Ovia North-East local government areas of the state either failed or were vandalised.

Osara added that 44 other projects were abandoned in the affected areas.

But Obaseki said it was discouraging that the commission failed in its objective to utilise funds to ameliorate developmental challenges in the oil-producing communities.

The governor, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, stated, “I am not happy that, of the funds for projects made available to the commission, only 30 per cent was put to use, while a similar commission at the regional level had only expended 10 per cent of funds for project execution.

“These commissions that were supposed to build alternative economies and assist oil and gas producing communities to prepare for a time when crude oil resources would be exhausted have not done enough for the communities.”

Obaseki, however, said the state government would recover funds from errant contractors who abandoned projects.

He also directed the permanent secretaries in the state’s ministries of infrastructure and urban and regional planning to review the audit report submitted by the firm and subsequently develop a white paper.

The governor said, “This (poor project handling) is unacceptable. Hence, we will not constitute a new board for EDSOPADEC until we clean up the system.’’ Copyright PUNCH.

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